The Spillover Effects of the Spouse's Retirement on Depression: Evidence From Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adult Couples.

Objectives: The present study expands on previous research by examining whether the spouse's retirement affects individual depression both directly, by the changes in individual health investment, and indirectly, through the social interaction effect of the couples' depression.

Methods: Using the panel data from the 2010-2018 China Family Panel Studies, we investigate the direct and indirect spillover effects of the spouse's retirement on depression among Chinese urban-worker couples (men aged 50-70, women aged 40-60; n = 10,466). To address the potential endogeneity and reflect the social interaction effect of the couples' depression, we combine the Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity method with simultaneous equations.